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2014 Ford C. Frick Award Ballot Finalized

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Ten of the National Pastime's iconic voices have been named as the finalists for the 2014 Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

The 10 finalists for the 2014 Frick Award are: Joe Castiglione, Jacques Doucet, Ken Harrelson, Bill King, Duane Kuiper, Eric Nadel, Eduardo Ortega, Mike Shannon, Dewayne Staats and Pete van Wieren. The winner of the 2014 Frick Award will be announced on December 11 at the Baseball Winter Meetings and will be honored during the July 26 Awards Presentation as part of Hall of Fame Weekend 2014 in Cooperstown.

The 10 finalists for the 2014 Frick Award include the three fan selections produced from online balloting at the Hall of Fame's Facebook site - www.facebook.com/baseballhall- in September. A total of 20,968 votes were cast. Doucet, King and Kuiper emerged as the top three fan selections in the online voting. The other seven candidates were chosen by a Hall of Fame research committee. All broadcasters on the ballot, with the exception of King and van Wieren, are active. All the finalists except for King are living.

The 2014 Frick Award ballot reflects recent changes in the selection process where eligible candidates are grouped together by years of most significant contributions of their broadcasting careers. The new cycle begins with the High Tide Era, which features broadcasters whose main body of work came from the mid-1980s - the start of the regional cable network era - through the present.

The new three-year cycle for the Frick Award will continue in the fall of 2014 with the Living Room Era, which will feature candidates whose most significant years fell during the mid-1950s through the early 1980s. In the fall of 2015, candidates will be considered from the Broadcasting Dawn Era, which features candidates from the earliest days of broadcasting into the early 1950s.

To be considered, an active or retired broadcaster must have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network, or a combination of the two. More than 160 broadcasters were eligible for consideration for the award based on these qualifications for 2014.

The 10 finalists for the 2014 Frick Award:

- Castiglione has spent 33 years calling big league games, the last 30 as the Red Sox's lead radio voice;

- Doucet spent 34 years broadcasting for the Expos as the play-by-play radio voice on their French network (1969-2004), and he returned to the booth in 2012 for select games as the Blue Jays' French-speaking TV voice;

- Harrelson has brought a passionate voice to the air for the Red Sox, Yankees and White Sox, including 27 years in Chicago;

- King worked for 25 seasons (1981-2005) as the A's lead play-by-play voice on radio;

- Kuiper has called games for 28 seasons, all but one with the Giants after spending 1993 with the expansion Rockies;

- Nadel has spent the last 35 seasons with the Rangers - the longest tenure of any announcer in franchise history - including the last 21 as the club's lead play-by-play voice;

- Ortega has handled Spanish-language MLB broadcasts for 27 years, including the last 21 as the voice of the Padres on radio and TV;

- Shannon has called Cardinals games for 42 years following a nine-year playing career with the Redbirds;

- Staats has called big league games for 36 years, including the last 16 as the voice of the Rays.

- Van Wieren called Braves games on television and radio from 1976-2008.

Additional biographical information on the 10 finalists can be found at www.baseballhall.org. Voters are asked to base their selections on the following criteria: longevity; continuity with a club; honors, including national assignments such as the World Series and All-Star Games; and popularity with fans.

The annual award is named in memory of Hall of Famer Ford C. Frick, renowned sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and Baseball commissioner. Past recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award:

FORD C. FRICK AWARD RECIPIENTS

1978

Mel Allen

1990

By Saam

2003

Bob Uecker

Red Barber

1991

Joe Garagiola

2004

Lon Simmons

1979

Bob Elson

1992

Milo Hamilton

2005

Jerry Coleman

1980

Russ Hodges

1993

Chuck Thompson

2006

Gene Elston

1981

Ernie Harwell

1994

Bob Murphy

2007

Denny Matthews

1982

Vin Scully

1995

Bob Wolff

2008

Dave Niehaus

1983

Jack Brickhouse

1996

Herb Carneal

2009

Tony Kubek

1984

Curt Gowdy

1997

Jimmy Dudley

2010

Jon Miller

1985

Buck Canel

1998

Jaime Jarrin

2011

Dave Van Horne

1986

Bob Prince

1999

Arch McDonald

2012

Tim McCarver

1987

Jack Buck

2000

Marty Brennaman

2013

Tom Cheek

1988

Lindsey Nelson

2001

Felo Ramirez

1989

Harry Caray

2002

Harry Kalas

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an independent not-for-profit educational institution, dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the historical development of baseball and its impact on our culture by collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting its collections for a global audience as well as honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to our National Pastime. Opening its doors for the first time on June 12, 1939, the Hall of Fame has stood as the definitive repository of the game's treasures and as a symbol of the most profound individual honor bestowed on an athlete. It is every fan's "Field of Dreams," with its stories, legends and magic shared from generation to generation.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Museum observes regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. from Labor Day until Memorial Day Weekend. From Memorial Day Weekend through the day before Labor Day, the Museum observes summer hours of 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Ticket prices are $19.50 for adults (13 and over), $12 for seniors (65 and over) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $7 for juniors (ages 7-12). Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. For more information, visit our Web site at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.